Trump says he’s talking to countries about ‘policing’ the Strait of Hormuzpublished at 05:03 GMT
On his flight back to Washington overnight, the US president said he had talked to “about seven” countries about “policing” the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump named China as one of those nations, emphasising that it is heavily reliant on shipments of oil which travel through the waterway.
Though he wouldn’t name any other countries he’d approached, he did reference the Nato alliance, as well as other countries he believes need to “defend their own territory”.
Earlier, he told the Financial Times that it is “only appropriate” for nations that benefit from the Strait of Hormuz to assist in re-opening it.
Trump warned that if there was no response from other nations, it could be “very bad for the future of Nato”, adding that the US has been “very sweet” to its European allies.
The president went on: “We didn’t have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us . . . But we helped them. Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us. And I’m not sure that they’d be there.”
Trump’s comments have come just one day after he called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK to join a “team effort” to open up the Strait.
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